Who knew what about Kim Dotcom

But John Key, in whose electorate Dotcom lived, said until the day before the police raid, he'd never even heard the name Dotcom.

So, the Solicitor General briefed the Prime Minister about the police raid a day before it occurred, and the Prime Minister hadn't heard Kim Dotcom's name prior to that.

Why did the Prime Minister not know about Kim Dotcom?

Why did senior cabinet ministers, senior officials, and even his own electorate office not tell him about this controversial immigrant until hours before the police raid?

We took a look at the people who did know about Kim Dotcom.

Who knew what, and when?

First, because the Prime Minister himself told us he was briefed by him: The Solicitor General.

The US justice department's official announcement of the Megaupload raids says "substantial and critical assistance was provided by the New Zealand police, the organised and financial crime agency of New Zealand (OFCANZ), the Crown Law Office of New Zealand, and the office of the Solicitor General for New Zealand...."

The FBI tells us that New Zealand police knew, OFCANZ knew, and Crown Law knew, too.

Four offices, with who knows how many people within them, who all knew about Kim Dotcom and his controversial presence in New Zealand.

And of course, as we all know, John Banks knew too.

Banksy was in with Dotcom, and Banksy called his old mate Maurice Williamson.

So, let's add John Banks and Maurice Williamson to the growing list of people who knew about Kim Dotcom.

We can also add Jonathan Coleman, Minister of Immigration, who knew of Dotcom's residency application as far back as 2010, and Associate Finance Minister Simon Power, who over-rode Dotcom's application to buy the Coastville mansion.

The head of immigration also knew - a man called Nigel Bickle, and who knows how many people in immigration under him.

Dotcom clearly fascinates the media, and there were numerous stories about his presence in New Zealand prior to his arrest. His lifestyle, the mansion, his residency application: It all got media attention long before the raid.

He even lit up Auckland’s night sky with a fireworks display.

Prior to his arrest, Kim Dotcom was controversial, but also welcomed into New Zealand under immigration's special investor plus category.

He bought $10 million of government bonds - a big investment for an individual - and he moved in to one of the most famous residences in the country, not that far from National's electorate in Helensville.

Chris was in charge of the building project at the Dotcom mansion. He and another contractor went to John Keys' electorate office, to talk to him about the amount of money Dotcom was spending, the amount of jobs that was creating, and to ask Key for any support he could give.

He spoke to his electorate secretary, and she said she'd pass it all on.